Saturday, December 20, 2008

The tree and Rick and Darlene's house with the beautiful feather ornaments.

My brother, Rick and wife, Darlene

Me and Roger at my brother's house.

Our Christmas tree with train and plastic decorations. Decorations are kid-proof. Train -- not so much.

Jonah earned a dollar for putting the train around the tree.

Well, I haven't wrapped a single present. Haven't bought very many. Only a few for Jill. I see things for her everywhere. Oh, and we got a basketball for Jonah, but still looking for a little goal to hang up. His biggest present is in the garage with a sheet over it. A big terrarium with a black base. Very fancy. It has a big branch in it which was his favorite thing. Jaime saw it at the neighbor's garage sale and Jonah begged for it or at least for the branch. I went down and paid $20.00 she gave me and they picked it up. There is a little lizard at home in a shoe box who is waiting to move in.

What I have done is bake a lot of Christmas cookies. They are all eaten so I have to bake some more for Christmas presents. I am so proud that I have finally learned to make good cookies and cut them out into the shape they are supposed to be. CHILL THE DOUGH! That is the secret. Whatever made me think I could cut shapes out of gooey dough? I find that a lot of other people make the same mistake, though. Now I am trying to learn to decorate them so they look right. My neighbor makes a beautiful plate of decorated cookies every year. The trick is to get the icing to harden and not just stay stickey. I confess to eating a lot of them, but not as many as Jill, who has been helping me. I flavored them with a little orange juice and some orange zest. The tangelos on the tree outside are puny this year, but they add a nice flavor to the cookies. Especially since I am long out of vanilla flavoring.

I went to Jonah's Christmas breakfast yesterday and they had a little play. Jonah was in the choir. Mrs. Goodknight is leaving to have her baby and won't be back till April. Meanwhile, the kids are out of school for two whole weeks! I went early to Jill's class but found them all napping. They had the party earlier and I missed it. At least I tried.

The tree has a train around it this year. Roger's Christmas present last year. Jonah had to crawl around and help us set it up. I paid him a dollar. Jill wanted to help, but he wouldn't let her and even blamed her when he had trouble with it. I had to ask him to do it again yesterday after Mia's visit. He complained and banned Jill from the living room, but finally got it going again. The decorations came in one box from Walgreens. All plastic. They would already be shattered by now if they were not. Still, it's a cute tree. Don't you think?

Monday, December 15, 2008

Mia and me. She is smelling a flower (flowler she calls it). Only way to get her to hold still.

Family photo. The best of the bunch. Everyone looks pleasant. It was before Mia's meltdown.

Obviously not in order. Here is the start of the parade to the lake.

Erica and even the cat lagging behind.

With money tight for everyone this year, we are cutting back to essentials. Good food and friends and presents only for the kids. This year we really mean it! It is strange, but also strangely liberating. This site is for family and friends and especially for Jonah, Jillian and Mia as a record of their childhoods and their grandma who loves them!

We went to the lake by my daughter's apartment last weekend to try to take some family portraits. Jaime got everyone together and found white shirts and khaki pants for them all. We trooped down to the lake which provided a beautiful background, but the light was too strong and the baby got progressively more irritable as the photo shoot went on. We got a few memorable shots anyway. I will try to post them now.